Farming Chit Chat

Bizzum

just do it wrote: »

Thanks for asking all those questions, I was getting to the stage where I was thinking I was pestering him!

I'll throw me hat in the ring so.
Dear Legwax,
Growth rate, inconsistancy in quality, and calves structurally unsound were issues I have had with BB.
Are these issues you have encountered? And if so how are they overcome?
I am open to use BB again infact have a real good BA cow carrying to a BB.

just do it

johngalway wrote: »

But typing a short reply takes 20 minutes :D

But I use it when I'm at work so I don't mind the 20mins :eek:

leg wax

Bizzum wrote: »

I'll throw me hat in the ring so.
Dear Legwax,
Growth rate, inconsistancy in quality, and calves structurally unsound were issues I have had with BB.
Are these issues you have encountered? And if so how are they overcome?
I am open to use BB again infact have a real good BA cow carrying to a BB.

i have all those issues with my blues as well,growth rate does not matter as long as they have muscle ,a heifer sat never grew,265kgs 1000 euro,inconsistancey is why there is 200 stq straws in flask and more will be ordered before he starts fireing blanks.structurally unsound,thats why i sold all mine as seen no come back.

johnpawl

Is it always a blue bull you use to get those export type quality calves? Would blonde or lm or part ever attain those prices off the same cows?

pakalasa

Bringing the sucklers home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0krw0Kvw0Nc&feature=related

whelan1

got 1 hell of a shower of rain this evening when i was bringing in cows, had gone with out my jumper so i got drowned... never used to have weather like this years ago... its all gone mad

vanderbadger

turned out to be a lovely evening here, very warm. overall though weather has been very broken, land is quite wet at the moment, only a few loads of slurry to go thankfully

reilig

In my experience, inconsistancy, growth rate and structurally unsound calves will have as much or more to do with the dam as with the sire. Too many people will put a BB bull on a cow which doesn't breed well with a CH or a LIM and expect her to have a super calf just because the calf is off a bb. It doesn't work that way. Dam breeding is very important to ensure quality BB calves.

Bizzum wrote: »

I'll throw me hat in the ring so.
Dear Legwax,
Growth rate, inconsistancy in quality, and calves structurally unsound were issues I have had with BB.
Are these issues you have encountered? And if so how are they overcome?
I am open to use BB again infact have a real good BA cow carrying to a BB.

bbam

whelan1 wrote: »

got 1 hell of a shower of rain this evening when i was bringing in cows, had gone with out my jumper so i got drowned... never used to have weather like this years ago... its all gone mad

Yea the weather is just maddening. Impossible to plan anything, just have to wing it. Our grazing ground is saturated, bloody rushes are loving it. God I hate rushes.

On a brighter note, 7 more sleeps to holidays. Getting things ready for when we'll be away so it runs smooth as possible. Can't come soon enough at this stage!

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

had gone with out my jumper so i got drowned...

Do ye have special oilskin jumpers or what in Louth? I want one!!

Muckit

I passed the Teagasc sheep research farm on the M6 yesterday. There was a lad out topping paddocks with a trailed kuhn disc mower.

Who said you don't have to top if you have sheep

Oh and that shed they are putting up looks smaller than the one reported in the Journal. 5 bay back to back from what I could make out, not really what I'd call a massive shed..

Bodacious

leg wax wrote: »

pakalasa wrote: »

What's the downside to a system like this? Surely there is one. How do you find them healthwise? Do you get more pneumonia? Do you vaccinate for IBR? How do you find the blonde cows for milk and fertility? Do you think the Parthanaise cows will bring even better calves?
Sorry for all the Q's.

second time trying to answer here goes again lost this page as i went into icbf .i vac for everything ibr a big problem if i dont,blonde cow is treated the same as any other breed,some wintered out on a knock if they have bad feet and are back in calf.blonde cows have very little milk,the system i am trying to work is muscle muscle muscle,now if a cow has extra milk its a bonus.i an getting paid for shape and muscle,not size,the fart of a calf that was born last july left me 1460 euros yesterday.and this fact has really focused me on the easy calving blue bull stq.a heifer born on 05/09/11 only weighed 286kgs but made 1200 euro, thats 4.19 a kilo,justin says you need heavy calves to leave you profit for me bullcrap,i have put into the cattle around 100 euros of meal,some of you might say that is crazy,i did not weigh the cattle before feeding but the lads that saw them before and afterwards could not believe how well they had done on average we reconed they put up 50/70 kilos.fertilty would not be top of the class,icbf/calving interval is 286 days calves per year 0.9, number of months calving 11 [think that is wrong].do i think the part will bring better calves no i hope they will just be the same but with more milk and a higher price for the part bull over a blonde bull.

Hi Legwax ,

I see your point in that you are making great money from your bb weanlings and long may it continue and after the day of the sale its not your concern even if they don't grow after or are not great on the feet.

Did you ever get one to go down though or go very bad on the feet before they hit the 400kg mark, I can vouch for 2 show calfs anyway too much muscle to fine bone ratio and down they went like broiler chickens ! Knackery job as couldn't walk into factory either

I probably should be thinking more along your lines than "looks" or height, I kept a blue grey EDJ heifer she calving in January to lim OZS (he has height and muscle) but heifer herself is no bigger than a pig , she long, wide etc and quiet as a lamb but I'm ashamed of her when standing next to other char and red lim heifers in the field.

I'm imagining her calves to be the same way, muscley little stumps but I'm sure I could live with that if I got the £££ per kg that you getting as opposed to growthy yellow char farmers calf that I would prefer to have in the field or mart.

Muckit

Not taking away from the smashing blues posted on here, and there have been many, but all this talk of functionality problems sounds a bit unnatural and cruel to me TBH.

It's like the chicken breeders breeding birds to have bigger breast meat and their little legs not being able to take the weight. The BB sounds like the beef animal equivalent....

Should farmers have a moral obligation to breed 'sound' stock , or is it all about the mart cheque at the end of the day? Perhaps I am being very naive and unrealistic.

pakalasa

This is why I think crossing the BB with a red limousin is good for hardiness. Maybe not as muscley as the Blonde cows but a better balanced animal. I just hate the heads on those blonde cows, nothing like a Lim cow with fire in her eyes.:D

Kovu

pakalasa wrote: »

, nothing like a Lim cow with fire in her eyes.:D

Then her head up your gut:rolleyes:

leg wax

Bodacious wrote: »

Hi Legwax ,

I see your point in that you are making great money from your bb weanlings and long may it continue and after the day of the sale its not your concern even if they don't grow after or are not great on the feet.

Did you ever get one to go down though or go very bad on the feet before they hit the 400kg mark, I can vouch for 2 show calfs anyway too much muscle to fine bone ratio and down they went like broiler chickens ! Knackery job as couldn't walk into factory either

I probably should be thinking more along your lines than "looks" or height, I kept a blue grey EDJ heifer she calving in January to lim OZS (he has height and muscle) but heifer herself is no bigger than a pig , she long, wide etc and quiet as a lamb but I'm ashamed of her when standing next to other char and red lim heifers in the field.

I'm imagining her calves to be the same way, muscley little stumps but I'm sure I could live with that if I got the £££ per kg that you getting as opposed to growthy yellow char farmers calf that I would prefer to have in the field or mart.

i had 1 heifer that went to the factory, as she was very bad on the legs,no other big problems other than tender on the feet.your heifer sounds like my edj cow she puts her stamp on the calf what ever the breed ,she had a lim heifer by rocky last year and its like looking at a red copy of her,shes got a part bull under her now and hes blocky as well.

lakill Farm

silage cut and baled on 27 May and today. All done for the year.

Pick up a 50 sqaure bales of hay and straw and im ready for October/November

Did a bit of topping on tuesday evening and no ragworth at all. moved calves from topped field to silage ground.

Ill spread the slurry at the weekend. almisost ready to roof the new calf shed .

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

silage cut and baled on 27 May and today. All done for the year.

Pick up a 50 sqaure bales of hay and straw and im ready for October/November

Did a bit of topping on tuesday evening and no ragworth at all. moved calves from topped field to silage ground.

Ill spread the slurry at the weekend. almisost ready to roof the new calf shed .

do ya want a medal:D

Kovu

whelan1 wrote: »

do ya want a medal:D

I think he'd prefer a dry weekend

lakill Farm

whelan1 wrote: »

do ya want a medal:D

ye 2 gold medal sausages on fresh bread;)

Bizzum

reilig wrote: »

In my experience, inconsistancy, growth rate and structurally unsound calves will have as much or more to do with the dam as with the sire. Too many people will put a BB bull on a cow which doesn't breed well with a CH or a LIM and expect her to have a super calf just because the calf is off a bb. It doesn't work that way. Dam breeding is very important to ensure quality BB calves.

As a dam is responsible for 50% off the progenys genes of course there is a significiant dam effect. But typically the commercial cow is a xbred, and the resultant progeny are 50% BB and less of other breeding. This and anecdotal experience from using BB leads me to conclude that the BB breed is where the problems are coming from typically.
I do think certain lines within the breed are worse than others, but the last time I used a good bit of BB I was left with several gimps off predominantly good cows. From memory one of the bulls I used was GUY.
Again, as stated I am open to use BB again and looking at some of the Blues on the photo thread it's hard to not be impressed.

Bodacious

leg wax wrote: »

i had 1 heifer that went to the factory, as she was very bad on the legs,no other big problems other than tender on the feet.your heifer sounds like my edj cow she puts her stamp on the calf what ever the breed ,she had a lim heifer by rocky last year and its like looking at a red copy of her,shes got a part bull under her now and hes blocky as well.

Ill post a picture when i get a chance,,.. might send her up to ya! Im the last year at least threatening to flog her and put a better one in it

She unreal quiet though a suckler calf, that never saw the inside of a shed and you can walk up to her in the field

whelan1

dont think i will be spraying weeds today:rolleyes:

bogman_bass

I took the risk of spraying of a padock for reseeding last night. Twas a bad move in hindsight. rained 2 1/2 houers later :mad:

thought I'd get away with it. tore a hole in a pipe on the neighbours sprayer just to add insult to injury. or and lost a nozzle too. Should have watched telly instead

Muckit

whelan1 wrote: »

dont think i will be spraying weeds today:rolleyes:

No it's real jumper weather

bob charles

bogman_bass wrote: »

I took the risk of spraying of a padock for reseeding last night. Twas a bad move in hindsight. rained 2 1/2 houers later :mad:

that will be fine, Glyphosate will be dry in minutes. many is the time I left a field after spraying and it started raining and with no consequences to chemical,

Muckit

bogman_bass wrote: »

tore a hole in a pipe on the neighbours sprayer just to add insult to injury. or and lost a nozzle too.

How did you manage to do that, hit the ditch turning at the headland? I often find there's more Drama in farming than there is on the telly!

snowman707

vincenzolorenzo

Hahahahaha :D:D The bit at 14s where the 'intruder' is seen for the first time is priceless!

just do it

I particularly like the bit at 1:01

johngalway

"We're closed, let's go"

Love to see them lads work moving stock in a mart, c'mon bessie, me chips are gettin cauld :cool:

blue5000

Snowman is that the hardware place beside the auburn lodge?

bt12

blue5000 wrote: »

Snowman is that the hardware place beside the auburn lodge?

ya

whelan1

she was a very quiet cow... could have been alot worse

pakalasa

That was one quiet cow alright......priceless..:)

Bizzum

Great vid.
She certainly didn't live up to the "Bull in a china shop" phrase!

reilig

Anyone got an idea of how many HP required to work a Claas Rotocut chopper baler? What would the min HP be for a non chopper Claas?

Pat the lad

http://www.claas.com/cl-pw/en/press/mitteilungen/2005/start,cid=207078,bpSite=51524.html"In keeping with its suitability for smaller farmers and contractors, the ROLLANT 254RC has a power requirement of just 90hp, which is 10% less than what is needed for the ROLLANT 255"

rocketjk

We had a claas 46 standard pickup and no chopper we drove it with 75hp. Now we have a claas 255RC and drive it with 120hp. To be honest i wouldnt like to drive it with any less as when your chopping with a full set of knives and climbing a hill with chamber nearly full youd need every bit to make a good bale

lakill Farm

reilig wrote: »

Anyone got an idea of how many HP required to work a Claas Rotocut chopper baler? What would the min HP be for a non chopper Claas?

I see a nice one in Tipp

reilig

lakill Farm wrote: »

I see a nice one in Tipp

Can't justify buy one at the minute. Just know someone who is in the process of buying and they were wondering if their tractor would be powerful enough for it.

bogman_bass

Muckit wrote: »

How did you manage to do that, hit the ditch turning at the headland? I often find there's more Drama in farming than there is on the telly!

comeing trough a tight gateway made tighter by a bar i drove into the grown to stop cows pushing the gate open. cought the hose on the corner of the gate :mad:

bob charles

not long to go now till the weekend is here!!!

moy83

bob charles wrote: »

not long to go now till the weekend is here!!!

Im going lamping foxes tonight and after that a mate is having a house party , couple of beers and plenty of jameson :D:D:D

whelan1

bought a british friesian bull today from the barrowvale herd in laois... let him with cows this evening and he's working away;)

stanflt

scanned 27 cows and 15heifers this evening all between 30-45 days pregnant

5cows empty:eek: and 1heifer
these cows were showing no feckin sign of heats and are covered in tail paint

whelan1

do you have heat time... absolutely fantastic for picking up silent heats...

stanflt

whelan1 wrote: »

do you have heat time... absolutely fantastic for picking up silent heats...

no but priced the new horizon one the other day-it does heifers as well if in range-800 a month over 2years

whelan1

i find it brilliant as i cant be everywhere:D for example my son brought in cows the other evening as we are really busy doing new farm roadways , told me there was a cow jumping that ended in 4 heattime picked her out no guess work.. love it

stanflt

whelan1 wrote: »

i find it brilliant as i cant be everywhere:D for example my son brought in cows the other evening as we are really busy doing new farm roadways , told me there was a cow jumping that ended in 4 heattime picked her out no guess work.. love it

whats your calving interval-honest please mine was 417 this year